first one: (don't know if this is supposed to be singular or plural, but I only see Kakinuma's name here)

The Evolving Menace, "Inbit"
* As the sponsers placed no specific requests for the Inbit, I was able to design them as I wished. To keep the viewers from being repulsed by the heroes' (ride armors) wanton destruction and murder of them, they were given bug-shaped powered armor; the original plan was for these to be the Inbit themselves. As the show progressed, or as the heroes approached the enemy home base, the enemy would advance from primeval many-legged creatures to humanoid shapes; at least that much of the original setting survived...
* Originally, the Inbit didn't have physical forms, but were shapeless lifeforms who came to Earth, experienced its evolution, and then went back to space... was what I wanted to use; rather than not using it, it's more like the show ended before it came up. Humans may be young as a species, but exist at the height of evolution.
* Make the designs easier to draw, fewer details, fewer details... is how kept directing me. From the sixteen types I'd thought of, in the end we brought it down to four or five.

[draft designs, left to right]
Rejected Draft
The plan was to start with arthropods, but they were deemed no good for animating.

Eager
This guy started with four legs and feelers, but was simplified down.

Gosu
The plan was for Inbit that had become more human, so this guy ended up looking like a Legioss.

[bottom line]
Mospeada has the potential for a remake! Somebody remake it, please...

Kakinuma Hideki in Mospeada #2
"Mospeada" and Invasion Stripes
The characteristic black and white bands of the humans' mecha are called invasion stripes, and were first used on aircraft during the Normandy landings in WWII as a way to identify allied units from different countries to each other. In "Mospeada", this identifying marking was a necessary part of the pivotal Earth recapture plan, considering the scope and disposition of those involved. Following our Legioss kit review we have Mr. Kakinuma, who did the mecha design work, looking back with his illustrations.

[upper right box]
Kakinuma Hideki
Representing design studio DARTS. Having his hand in anime and novel designs, game media and more, a multitalented creator who has been an author, an illustrator, and a mecha designer. His many models also display a deep understanding of the art. This is to be expected, as he was one of the core contributors to our legendary "How to Build Gundam" supplements. His works include the "Junk Force" novel series (published by Media Factory), the "Gall Force" series (design, original draft), and many others.

P-51 Mustang
Level 1:32 Mustang
When I was in sixth grade, I had a 1:32 P-51 that I'd built and then ignored. One day, I painted "invasion stripes" on it, and it came back to life as something else! Since then, I've always painted black and white bands on American and British fighters. No matter what unheard of SF mecha it was, just adding these "invasion stripes" magically made it a military unit! This became the marking concept for Mospeada's mecha.

Dread 1
The "Dread" name for this Tread prototype is from Dreadnought. A block of propellant and engines to carry a Legioss from Mars to the Earth sphere... is what I was going for. Below is the first sketch drawn around 1983. I designed it in the style of the Nostromo from Alien but the director said it "doesn't look like a flying mecha without wings!" so it was rejected. An unmanned mecha. It even transforms!

[Dread 1 arrow on right]
This booster is for decelerating on descent.

Dread 2
The producer said "Can we have all the fighters transform?", so this is the 2nd version of the Dread I thought up. The first plan was for an "unmanned fighter", so there's no cockpit! And of course, it transforms into a robot! Combining the Dread 1 and Dread 2 resulted in the final "Tread" design we all(?) know...

[Dread 2 word bubble]
A powerful air-to-surface mortar cannon! Take down those Inbit!

Legioss (1984)
As the Mars military's plan to descend on Earth is a futuristic "Normandy", let's put invasion stripes on everyone involved! ...was my suggestion, but the lack of military interest on the scene left it underappreciated. Still, I managed to get them on the main fighter. (As for other SF mecha with black and white stripes, I managed to push them onto the later "Gall Force" OVA. And I will continue to do so! ← such tenacity...)

F-18 Hornet (1994)
I think it was in 1994; the US military celebrated the 50th anniversary of D-Day by flying F-18's painted with invasion stripes! But I was ahead of them at putting invasion stripes on a swept wing fighter by 10 years! (probably...) I think there was maybe a kit that came with stripes?

Legioss (2007)
Right here, right now, I came up with this modern style Legioss! Nowadays it would be this sort of thing. It can still use the same transformation mechanic as the original! (probably...)

Just reading this over gave me information I didn't know about Kakinuma, Mospeada planning and Mospeada mecha. I'm glad I'm able to use this information for the upcoming Mospeada pages on Gears Online.